Sex offender at center of Carlsbad church debate seeks acceptance

SAN MARCOS -- In the past week, Mark Pliska has been revealed in
the press as a convicted child molester, lost his job, been evicted
from his home and become the center of a debate about how much
forgiveness can be expected from society.

In the midst of the controversy, Pliska said he has no intention
of moving away or abandoning his desire to attend the church of his
choice.

"At some point, you have to make a stand," Pliska said, sitting
down at a San Marcos restaurant for an interview. "You can't keep
moving on forever. I put my faith in the Lord right now and hope
things will turn around for me."

Pliska, 53, was convicted of molesting two boys in 1983 and
convicted of indecent exposure in 1998.

"I deeply regret my past behavior," Pliska said. "I have
changed."

After moving to Escondido from Santa Cruz in December, he
attended four services at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in
Carlsbad, which operates the preschool Pilgrim Children's Center
next door on weekdays.

He has not attended services at Pilgrim church since the Rev.
Madison Shockley introduced him to the congregation Jan. 28.
Shockley said the church has since formed a committee to create a
policy on what to do when a known sex offender wants to attend.

The matter was an internal church issue until Shockley mailed a
letter to parents of children in the preschool about three weeks
ago, informing them that a convicted child molester wanted to
attend the church. Most of those parents do not attend Pilgrim
church.

The letter prompted one of those parents, Vista resident Jessica
Muehlhausen, who has two children in the preschool, to launch a
petition drive March 7 asking the church to bar Pliska from
attending services.

Pliska was living at an Escondido home for people attending
12-step programs when news crews covering the petition drive showed
up to interview his neighbors March 8. He said he was evicted that
night and since has moved to San Marcos.

"They didn't want the publicity," Pliska said about his
eviction.

The next day, Pliska said, he went to work and found people were
looking at him differently and were not as friendly.

"One of my co-workers said, 'You really are famous,' " he said.
"Shortly after, I got called into the office and was told they were
letting me go because of poor job performance. I asked the manager
if it had to do with what was on TV. He said no, but I didn't
believe him."

Early issues

Pliska was born in Sacramento into a military family that moved
several times as he was growing up.

"I was raised by a family with an alcoholic parent, and saw
quite a bit of dysfunction," he said.

By his teen years, Pliska was dealing with his own problems. He
sometimes exposed himself in public.

Other personal issues emerged in his 20s, and in 1983, Pliska
was convicted of molesting two neighborhood boys in Mendocino
County. He served six months in prison, he said.

Pliska estimated he spent half his income on personal and group
therapy in the five years after his release, and he said the
analysis revealed his crimes were rooted to unresolved problems in
his life. Fear of abandonment had led him to act out by exposing
himself, he said the analyst told him, and his psychological denial
of his homosexuality had led him to molest children, he said.

While therapy helped him deal with these issues, Pliska said he
had a setback after a relationship ended. When the feelings of
abandonment re-emerged, so did the compulsion to expose himself,
and he did. He was convicted a second time in Monterey County in
1998. This time, he said, he served seven months in prison.

Pliska said that his urge to molest children did not resurface,
which he sees as a sign that his therapy was effective in that
regard.

Punishment of child molesters had grown more severe by then, and
Pliska's past conviction resulted in his being designated as a
sexually violent predator. Following his prison stay, he spent four
years at Atascadero State Hospital. He was released last May.

"The real healing came from dedicated social workers I worked
with at the hospital," he said. "They sensed I really wanted to
change and took the time to help me do so."

A free man

As a sexually violent predator, Pliska must register with local
authorities every three months, unlike other sexual predators who
register once a year.

The registration process keeps track of where sexual predators
are living, and Pliska's move to Santa Cruz upon his release did
not go unnoticed.

Media coverage of his arrival led him to being asked to leave a
homeless shelter and made it difficult for him to find work, he
said. He did not, however, have problems joining a United Church of
Christ congregation in Santa Cruz, where he agreed to a covenant
that required him to be escorted at all times while at the
church.

After a friend he was staying with died, Pliska moved from Santa
Cruz to Escondido, which he said he picked because the county
offered many recovery programs. He attends five 12-step programs,
including ones for sex addiction, co-dependency and adult children
of alcoholics.

Clergy at the Santa Cruz church referred Pliska to Pilgrim
United Church of Christ, which is accepting of gay people, and also
contacted Shockley. Pliska met with Shockley after attending one
service. Pliska agreed to be escorted while at the church and to
abide by other conditions the congregation might require in the
future, he said.

Because he is not on probation or parole, Pliska said he has no
legal restrictions regarding where he can live or work.

While Pliska has not attended any church since Jan. 28, he said
he reads the Bible daily and has a support group of church members.
He said he looks forward to someday returning to Pilgrim.

"It's an open and affirming church, and it's a place to
experience the Lord," he said. "I like the spirit that comes from
Pilgrim Church."

Pliska said he did not know there was a school next to the
church until his first visit.

"I knew that could be a potential problem when I went there," he
said. "That's why I went to Madison."

Pliska said he knew he ran a risk in telling the congregation
about his past, but he wanted to be upfront with the minister and
his congregation. If he has to go to another church, Pliska said he
again will tell people about his past convictions.

"I feel that I'm not a threat," he said. "That's the reason I
came forth. For people to know about me."

Pliska said he has spent years working on the personal demons
that led to his convictions, and he sees the work continuing for
the rest of his life. But he also said he wants people to give him
a chance to show that he has changed.

"I'd like to show that I'm not the monster the media has
portrayed me as," he said. "People think that once you're convicted
that you're always going to be that way. That's not necessarily
true. There are people who do change, and I'm one of them. I want
to be an acceptable member of society."